Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa made an interesting call during Sunday’s defeat at Cardiff City, and YEP reporter Graham Smyth has revealed some insight to why.
With eight minutes left on the clock, the Argentine turned to rarely-seen academy starlet Robbie Gotts, who replaced Mateusz Klich in midfield despite the more experienced Jamie Shackleton being on the bench.
Would you like to see more of Robbie Gotts?
No!
100%
In a recent Q&A, one supporter asked why the 20-year-old right-back was brought on over the natural central midfielder, to which Smyth replied:
“It might simply be a case that Gotts has been particularly sharp in training. I had heard that he came back flying and was impressing in the running in the first days of training. He hasn’t had much in the way of opportunities this season so it was good to see him thrown in, but ultimately difficult for him to change the course of a match with so little time on the clock and an opposition defending so well.”
It was Gotts’ second senior appearance of the season, and ever, having only featured against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup back in January whilst the England U20 international has featured 40 times for the west Yorkshire outfit – both players are the same age.
Smyth claims that Gotts had been really impressing Bielsa in training, which is probably why he was handed an opportunity and he did no harm to his long-term chances having recorded one tackle and a 100% passing accuracy, via SofaScore.
Maybe on this basis, the local lad has risen in the pecking order and could be in line for more action as the remaining eight games rumble on, especially with the Argentine being able to make five subs each match now.
What do you think? Is Gotts someone you want to see more of at Elland Road?